Pakistan tells US to halt drone strikes as Kerry makes surprise visit

Pakistani officials on Thursday pressed for the U.S. to end a campaign of drone strikes in the country, saying such actions were "counterproductive" to the relationship between the two nations. The comments came on the heels of an unannounced visit to Pakistan by Secretary of State John Kerry, who is hoping to overcome the tenuous relationship with the South Asian nation over drones, the raid that killed Osama bin Laden and U.S. airstrikes in 2011 that accidentally killed 24 Pakistani soldiers.

"We have registered our concern and will continue to do so that drone attacks are counterproductive in terms of our relationship," said Sartaj Aziz, Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s Advisor of Foreign Affairs said at a joint news conference with Kerry in Islamabad. "We will continue this dialogue on how to stop this policy of drone attacks as far as the U.S. is concerned."

"We are asking them to stop it, not just contain it," Aziz said in response to a reporter’s question.

But when Kerry was questioned about U.S. drone strikes, of which there have been over 300 since 2009, according to the New America Foundation, he addressed it by pointing a finger at al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, who is believed to be based in Pakistan.

"An Al-Qaeda leader like al-Zawahiri is violating the sovereignty of this country. And when they attack people in mosques and blow up people in villages and market places they are violating the sovereignty of the country," Kerry said.

Kerry also said that the U.S. would "go anywhere we find any network working against the states and will dismantle it."

"We do respect the sovereignty of the country, but what we discussed can't be made public," he said. According to Kerry, President Barack Obama had a plan to bring drone strikes in Pakistan to an end.

"I think the president has a very real timeline and we hope it's going to be very, very soon. I think it depends really on a number of factors, and we're working with your government with respect to that."

The number of drone strikes, however, has significantly fallen in the last two years – from 122 in 2010 to 16 so far this year. Despite that, the use of drones, which the U.S. says are used to target militants in northwest Pakistan, is a highly sensitive issue and anti-U.S. feelings run deep in parts of the country.

Drone missiles have been hitting targets since 2004 in troubled areas on the Afghan border such as North Waziristan, the main stronghold for various militant groups aligned with al Qaeda and the Taliban. But they have also killed an unknown number of civilians.

Despite the tensions in ties, the U.S., which gives Pakistan more than $1 billion annually, remained the country’s biggest donor even though there have been calls in Congress in the past to cut off the aid. Ties improved fractionally last year after the two sides reached a deal to reopen land routes used to supply Western troops in Afghanistan that were cut off after the air strike in November 2011 that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers.

Mutual suspicions however remain. Washington wants Islamabad to do more to eradicate militant havens and crack down on groups such as the Haqqani network, which regularly attacks U.S. forces in Afghanistan from hideouts in Pakistan. Pakistan itself has seen a spate of attacks against its military and civilians by the Pakistani wing of the Taliban since Sharif was sworn in more than a month ago on the back of promises to talk to the insurgents rather than fight them.

As for Afghanistan, Aziz and Kerry both expressed hopes to revive deadlocked talks with the Afghan Taliban as part of broader efforts to stabilize the nation as U.S.-led forces prepare to pull out most combat troops by late 2014. Kabul has suspended talks on a security agreement with the United States after a dispute over how to proceed with the peace talks.

Speaking about the future of U.S.-led forces there, Kerry said he was confident the United States would reach agreement on future troop levels in a timely way.
 
"The United States is drawing down, not withdrawing. There's a distinction. The President will announce the number of forces that he will commit to the United States. Other countries have already committed certain numbers of forces who will remain in Afghanistan for two purposes. One, to counter terrorism, and two, to train, equip and advise the armed forces," Kerry said.

Kerry, who as a senator sponsored legislation to provide $7 billion in assistance to Pakistan over 5 years, said the two countries were serious about overcoming past grievances.

Kerry also spoke earlier with Prime Minister Sharif, whom he invited to visit the U.S. for talks with President Barack Obama.

"America does not want to have a transactional relationship, we do not want to have a relationship based on one moment or based on issues such as counter-terrorism or Afghanistan," Kerry said. "What was important today was that there was a determination...to move this relationship to the full partnership that it ought to be, and to find the ways to deal with individual issues that have been irritants over the course of the past years."

Wire services